Ocean Rib Yoga Socks

Well, that escalated quickly!

Yesterday I had two balls of variegated blue yarn, today I have two ocean coloured yoga socks!

I'm really proud of them, since I made the pattern up myself. I'm going to make a few more pairs and get a few people to try them, and if that's a success (which I hope it will be) I'll be posting the pattern.

Polymer clay hooks + cases

I have been having rather a lot of fun with colour in the last few days, first off, I grabbed some of my crochet hooks, some polymer clay and made these:

  

And then of course, they wouldn't fit back in the case that they came in, and knowing that I'm prone to losing my hooks unless they're in a case, I had to make one for them!

I am quite proud of my little creations, and have been using the hooks as much as possible. In fact, I picked up some insanely cheap yarn at an opshop today that I have great plans for!

Cushions + A Stash Bag

I'm on a bit of a cushion kick at the moment. They're quick, fun and you can do a whole heap with them, plus they're an easy way to decorate.

This latest edition is my first attempt at sashiko, which I really enjoyed doing, not to mention how much I love the result!

I put this one together with an invisible zip instead of an envelope back, partially to try something new, partially as an excuse to buy an invisible zipper foot. They are very worth having, I'm never going back to regular zips again!

Best of all, the cushion looks great on my bed out in the casa with the cushion I made last week.

Speaking of that cushion, I loved the fabric so much I had to make something else out of it. I have my big peacock project/stash bag in the dining room, where I do most of my crochet, but I needed a little one out in the casa for projects that get taken out there.

I figured out the construction myself, and it's lined with plain Prima Homespun, mostly so I can see my things easier!

Best of all, it gives me somewhere to keep my new set of crochet hooks!

Black and Blue

Sometime in the near future, I'm going to be moving from my current bedroom, to the sleepout, affectionately known as 'the casa'. It's probably about half the size of my current bedroom, but where my room is dark and unfinished, the casa has three big windows and a proper floor!

The most exciting thing about moving out there (aside from having a big clearout) is that I get to redecorate (more about that in a later post) and one of the things I really want to incorporate is lots of handmade things.

I was looking for something quick to do last night as I watched TV with my Mama, and I found You Go Girl's Posh Pillowcase tutorial, and off I went! I grabbed my favourite aqua cotton and a black pillowcase that could do with some cheering up, and an hour later I had something beautiful in my lap.

It still needs a press, just to make everything sit neatly, but I love it already and am sure there will be more on the way!

The trick to frozen vegies

Frozen vegies are great. So long as they're frozen fresh, they're almost as good as fresh, they don't go mouldy in the fridge and they're usually all cut up for you. Brilliant. The only problem I've ever had with frozen vege is some vegies, particularly broccoli/cauliflower and beans don't cook up very well. Beans go mushy and the heads of the broccoli and cauliflower end up still full of cold water.

Because of this, I usually only use carrots and peas in their frozen form, but tonight I was doing stir-fry and only had a frozen winter vegie mix to use. I decided to experiment.

What I discovered, is that if you chuck your vegies in a colander or strainer and run hot water over them (or soak them in hot water) for a few minutes, then leave them to drain for about ten minutes, when you cook them up they are just as crisp and delicious as fresh!

I'm glad I've figured this out, because it opens up a whole heap of options for cooking, and an empty fridge no longer necessitates a hurried trip to the store.

Sun-shiny

Fact of the day: My favourite colour is orange.

Second fact of the day: Nice orange yarn is near-on impossible to find in NZ.

The solution to this problem?

A ball of cream yarn, some food colouring and a bit of bravery.

I dyed my own wool! It was a really fun process, not to mention easy and safe. I used this tutorial, I wasn't expecting fantastic results, it just seemed too easy, but the yarn speaks for itself:



It's actually more orange than red, but the colour saturation is something to be marveled at. I apologise for the slightly odd quality of the photo, winter's set in and finding decent light for photos is getting harder. I also forgot to take a picture of it in it's skein-y glory before Ma whipped up these neat dino spikes.

I've also used it in an owl hat that I'll post when it's finished, and there's still some left over. One thing's for certain, this sun-shiny yarn is brightening up my dull winter days.

Peacocks and bears, it's a zoo in here!

What a productive few days I've had. Last week I made myself a stash bag to keep all my yarn and projects in.



It's made with some gorgeous peacock printed fabric that I picked up for $10 a metre, and the stash bag pattern from the Purl Bee.

Yesterday and today was spent working on this little beauty:



The hat itself was made with the Shepherd Baby Merino that I've been umming and ahhing over, using this basic beanie pattern, and I made up the pattern for the ears myself.

In addition to this, a Very Exciting Thing happened yesterday -- the wool shop is having a sale! And not just any sale, the whole shop is full of cardboard boxes bursting with wool. Mama and I, managed yesterday, among other things, managed to pick up numerous balls of Merino/Cashmere wool in pretty neutrals and warm colours, for $3.90 a ball! I'm losing the light right now, but I'll try and grab a photo of our yarns tomorrow.

Ta-ta!